Tag Archives: business

Nadia Ryder is a dedicated, hard-working and creative photographer in the early stages of her career. She recently published this post online and is happy for me to share it. What she describes isn’t at all new…however it is becoming more and more common.
How do you feel about this? Why not check out here URL & see why she (along with many others) is worth being paid?

‘So sick of seeing ‘job alerts’ pop up for internships online. Let’s just call it what it is. Companies basically not wanting to spend their money on a job they think isn’t worth paying for, yet if the job isn’t worth paying for, why even ‘hire’ an intern? Clearly if it’s not worth paying for it isn’t essential to your business? Oh wait, except it is, you just don’t want to spend the money. Internships are a great way to gain experience and insight into an industry while networking and making contacts, sure, but some of the ads I have seen are just disgusting. “Photographer and clothes ironer needed, £5 per hour”. Are you fucking kidding me? What makes you think someone would want to snap that job up for under minimum wage? Another gem “intern needed to retouch fashion campaign for big prestigious brand. Unpaid” Well if the brand is so big and prestigious, why can’t they afford a fucking retoucher?

Do not fall for this shit. Sometimes it’s easy to tell when someone is looking to mug you off and sometimes it’s not, but don’t degrade yourself by being someone’s bitch just for a name on your CV. Sometimes it isn’t worth it. Obviously it’s a judgement call, but I’m tired of seeing people get mugged off.

Everyone in the creative industry do yourself a favour and actually appreciate the value of your work. The reason people approach you for ‘work’ is because they can’t do it themselves. So why devalue it and let them have it for free? You pay accountants, cleaners, lawyers, you name it, so pay the fucking photographer. If everyone took a stand and said no to free work, these companies would HAVE to pay. You’re only hurting yourself and all others in your profession by offering your services for free. Take pride in what you do and learn to say no.

Sorry/not sorry for the rant. I’m just so mad and sick to death of it.’